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Academic program wraps up season

By Caron SmithE-E Correspondent

The Caney Valley High School academic program ended their season in fine form Saturday when senior Brandon McLaughlin and coach Martha Ward were honored at the All-State banquet in El Reno. Senior Destyni Flowers was also honored as Academic All-State honorable mention.

The day began when Brandon was randomly placed on one of six teams of All-Staters, where he played five games against the other top players of the state. He scored an amazing 350 points to have one of the top averages for the day. After the games, eight all-staters were selected to compete against the coaches to test the coaches’ academic abilities. Coach Martha Ward was the captain for the coaches’ team, and Brandon was selected to compete in the first half of the game. When going head to head with his beloved coach, Brandon was definitely faster on the buzzer! However, when all was said and done, the coaches ended up defeating the All-Staters thanks to well-placed 60-second round on triangles.

After the games there was a banquet where each student and coach was honored, and five $350 scholarships were awarded. Brandon was a recipient of a scholarship which will definitely help defray some of the expenses of engineering school at the University of Oklahoma.

Meanwhile in Norman, the seventh-seed ninth-grade finished fourth place in the OJABA state tournament. The Trojans began the morning by taking on No. 2 Quapaw in the first round, narrowly losing 240-210.

Scoring for the Trojans was Wyatt Whitworth with a team-high 250 points, followed by AJ Young with 90, Kaitlin Ketchum with 80 and Aaron Morrison with 50 points. The team was coached for the day by Jeannie Wright and assisted by sophomores Matt Bullick and Jane Moore in Ward’s absence.

“This tournament consists of the top 2A and 3A schools in the state,” said Ward. “The team gave their all and have improved so much from districts where we won only one game. I’m so proud of their hard work and determination. Just wait until you see us next year in the Froshmore competition!”

Thus concludes the 2013-2014 academic season. The varsity finished OSSAA 3A state runner-up and were regional champions and area runner-ups. They also were conference champions, finished second at the Kremlin Hillsdale tournament, and were fifth at the Stigler Brain Bowl. The sophomore team finished fifth at the OAAC Froshmore State championship. The freshmen team finished district runner-up. third at regionals and fourth at state. All teams will be honored on May 13 at the academic banquet.

Although this concludes this year’s academic activities for this year, Ward is ready to go next year and the ink is barely dry on the certificates and trophies from this year’s fantastic wins. Ward is definitely what’s known as a “keeper.” Without her expert coaching and desire to help the teams to the best of her numerable abilities, the eteams would not be able to compete. It takes a special person to sacrifice their time for such a dynamic venture. Thank you, coach Ward. You’re the best.

The First Baptist Church has completed a very successful revival. Lucas White, the evangelist extraordinaire, preached to a nearly full congregation four services. He is the son of the popular evangelist, the late John White, whom many of you remember and loved.

The prom was fantastic. The after-prom was even better. The kids all had a blast. The committee was able to raise a lot of money so that every student there received a nice gift, plus they had rented the YMCA and therefore had access to their facilities such as swimming, racket ball, photo booth and many other activities. All of the students I spoke with said thay had an awesome after-prom. The event lasted until 6:30 a.m. Numerous parents served as sponsors and no mishaps oocured. Simply good clean fun.

On Thursday, the fourth-graders will be taking a field trip to the AMC Southroads Movie Theatre. Then on Friday, the third-graders will visit the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Also on Friday, the kindergarten will have a pet parade at 1:30 p.m. The state testing is complete at Caney Valley Elementary School.

You may reach me with your news this week by calling me at 918-370-5717 or call 918-535-2433 and leave a message or email me at Wallraven@totelcsi.com.

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